Vegas Trip - November

I was in Vegas. yea and had a lot of fun. Played in 3 tournaments and sponsored my son in 2. Played well but no cashes. Son bubbled out in one.




Treasure Island 17/45 My Son 7/45

Nice tournament with good structure. started out with 3000 chips. Great fun for a $65.oo tourney. No cards at end.

Binions 16/45 10:00 16/45

Not a bad tournament.Got knocked out with my A10 vs J10 when a J spiked the river.

Planet Hollywood 60 23/70

Played the Grinder tourney with Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi who had a 300 bounty.

This was the best tourney. Started out with 4 K in chips. Was in outstanding position when in 3 hands the poker gods were unkind. 99 vs q9 and a q spikes the river. AK vs q9 suited when yes a flush hits the river and guess what. I was out. Both the players I doubled up made it to the final table.

But I got lucky early on when my qq busted a kk so i guess I can't complain.

The SC Beach

Here it is the last week in September and I'm laying out on the beach. The weather is hot, the Ocean is warm and I'm enjoying every bit of it.

I've taken a break from Poker as my game was getting very bad in critical spots. I just have not been laying down hands like I should when I know I'm beat but my right hand does not obey my brain and the chios are flung into the middle and before I know it I'm out,

I firmly believe that a break will help my game and I'm excited about doing well. I know I can as I have won in the past and I can win again. I'm going to stop playing turbo's as the play affects others games as they are ot played the same. I will play more SNG or small multiple tables.

By the way, I just finished reading "Positively Fifth Street" by James McManus a great book about murder, poker and the World Series of Poker. Great book to read on the beach with a beer in your hand.

Wow, I haven't posted in forever.

Wow. I have not posted in forever. I've been on such a bad run lagtely, bad cards bad playing, that I just haven't felt like posting anything. Yesterday I won a 45 qualifier which puts me into a second qualifier that if I end up in the top 2% i can play in the full tilt 1,000,000 touney tomorrow. A long shot,but possible. Let you know how it goes later.

Poker Oddities

I never get too upset at cards and the way the strangely fall sometimes. For example; the other night in the nightly 24k my nut flush was toppled by a runner runner straight flush and I was out instead of being in the top 10.

The very following night in a $5 turbo sng I knocked someone out with a runner runner straight flush against his nut flush. And both nights they were in spades albeit not the same cards. LOL

Is it the randomness of cards that are sometimes are actual cyclical or it the random generator of computers. Who knows.

Blogs Are Banned

I haven't been blogging lately BECAUSE "out tech group " HAS BLOCKED IT OUT. Looks like I will have to do it at home.

Won A $26 Token and Took First

OK I won a $26 dollar token during todays frenzy. I was in 34 out of 35 and was happy to squeak in. Then I ended up winning the damn thing. WHO WANTS TO WIN HERE?? I sucked out multiple times just trying to get out. WHAT A WASTE.

New POKER AXIOM 7 - Token Frenzies

YOU WILL HAVE MUCH BETTER LUCK WHEN IT DOESN'T COUNT FOR ANYTHING.

Oh well.

Here again are some of the others:


Boney's Poker Axiom No. 8 - Trying to leave early
It is impossible to say "Sorry, I got to go" in the middle of the tournament without then winning six hands in a row.
Posted by Boneyardxxx at 9:41 AM 0 comments

Boney's Poker Axiom No. 9 - Buyins
The higher the buyin the more major interuptions or emergencies you will have during the tournament
Posted by Boneyardxxx at 9:38 AM 0 comments

Boney's Poker Axiom No. 10 - Suckouts
The lower your chip stack is in the red zone or dead zone the more likely you are to suckout a one outer. Your 350 chips will be doubled to 750 when the average chip count is 20000.The corollary to this is the higher your chip stack and the closer you are to the final table someone with more chips will suck out on you with a one outer.

Horrible Weekend

After braggin' how good May was. (need to keep my mouth shut) June has started out all wrong. Bad plays, bad reads, and bad luck cut my bankroll by a third. If it wasn't for some sng, I'd be sucking wind.

And on one of them, I had the following




And Spiked an 8 on the turn for quads. Lucky me.


Here are my results in the SNG's in $2 turbo and $6 turbos. Maybe I should stay away from MTT for a while.

$2

$5

The Haitus is Over

I took a month off but I'm back in action. May was a great month that took my meager stack from $5 to over $300. Its fun again.

A Second Place Finish

Last night I placed second in the $3 turbo for a cool win of 210. It was one of those nights. If anyone has played in this tournament it is a wild donkey fest with players. The first hour I was up and down with good cards but with the rapid blinds I found myself with 2000 in chips and the blinds at 1000/500.

qjs looked with the blinds approaching I triple up.

Three hand later qjs again, and again I tripled up against 2 K10 os . From 2000 to 20000. And then in the next 15 minutes I went from 20000 to over 200000 and became the chip leader. I got there by doubling up with AA against JJ. What a time to get Aces against someone with chips and a fairly good hand. In that streak I went in with either the best hand or a coin flip. No suckouts and I won the coin flips. It was a rush.

Hopefully this is a averaging out of all the bad beats I've taken lately and not a sign of the bad beats to come.

I went into the final table as chip leader with one other guy within a few chips. Everyone else was way down.

At the final table the cards did not come. I went in against one short stack with 77 vs. his AQ and won that. We got down to 4 players with the leader (not me) having a 2:1 advantage against pretty much the three remaining stacks of eqaul value. With no cards, I was not in the action and the chip leader took out the other 2 and I was a 7:1 underdog.

With 2 players his mode was "all-in" and I had no choice but to put it all - in with 9 5 with the blinds as high as they were against his q7. A five spiked on the turn but a 7 hit the river and I was done.

ONE OF THESE DAYS, I WILL WIN ONE OF THESE THINGS.

Not Running Well Lately

I have not been running to well lately but last night things got a little better. Finished in the top 20% but got caught trying to steal with 5’s against q’s and I was out. Had an interesting night when limping in with Jh,9h when a 10d, Qh, Kh hit the flop. It gave me a straight with inside straight flush draw. Got it all in against another fellow who had as it turned out a Jc,9c. At this point we were tied but I had a 1/3 chance to win. And yes a 5h hits the river and I double up.

Later on a flopped a nut flush but no action and my A’s hold up against Q’s. “I close my eyes with Aces” as usual but this time I’m on the winning side.

I decided to tighten up my play and not try to “give away” chips with middle pair and poor continuation bets. With 1500 starting chips, there is little room for error, and it is quite easy to loose 1/3 rd of your chips on a bad play. Betting on draws, even if the odds say you should, doesn’t help if you only win 1 out of 3 or 4 times.

Later

March Madness

March continues to be a good month. I managed to win a 5$ 90 player BStack tournament for $112. on full tilt. It was full of bad beats, lucky hits, good plays and just a lot of fun. When it came down to 2 players I had about 35k in chips while my opponent sat on 235k in chips. I climbed back to a 2:1 lead when my 66 hit a set on the flop and it was all over baby. This makes 3 final tables in 10 days and has bolstered my account from 5$ to over $320. Thank God I don't have to reload.

It continued on in the 3$ turbo. I play these if I get knocked out of the 7 or 8 pm tournament. I was down to 90 chips after being in the top 1/3 after I made a bad?? call on a flush draw and then lost a coin flip. Thought I was out but to my surprise I was still in with 90 chips. Through it all in with a 69 os. ( I like this better than A9 os) when my 9 pairs up and I win. next hand had 10 10 and hit a third 10 and all of a sudden I had 3500 chips. Lots of players in and blinds as well. Ended up in 43rd out of 500+

Back in the Saddle

OK, I'm not a great blogger. I've always been told that I am to succinct in how I write or how many times I write, but that was not the reason I have not blogged lately. The truth of the matter was that I was pissed and sick of loosing to both suckout call and stupid calls on my part.

To the point I was ready to give up. (ok in my mind only) I was down to less than $15 in my account planning to just give up or pause anyway where some how I managed a 5th place final table appearance in the $10 7:00 full tilt poker. and yes I did have one major suckout (about time) where my q's won over k's. (See previous blog where you must suckout to go deep) May have gone further but one guy kept sucking out on the river to tie. Won $210.

Less than a week later I final tables in second in a $3 turbo. Another $86.

So instead of quitting, I'm now looking at bracelet races for WSOP and that's a lot more fun than where I was a week ago.

Bad Timing and Bad Play

Had a very good start last night with one hand of trip 6’s and another k’s to go from 1500 chips to 5800 chips and top ten position.

And yes in the second hour I donated all my chips with a series of missteps including.

- KK vs. AK --- Cost me half my chips

- QQ vs 55 ---- Extremely bad call on my part. Should have let it go

- AA vs my Shorted Stack KQs and I was out. WOW

So in a matter of 20 minutes I donked off all my chips after a great start. I have to get more disciplined during the mid play. I can’t risk 40-50% of my chips in at best 50/50 scenario. In each one of the plays I called a large raise with marginal calling hands. This is a major leakage on my part and I need to work on not doing this. Do not call large raises with marginal hands in the hopes you are at best 50/50.

I think my problem is that I’m in turbo playing mode and need to get into regular tournament mode.

At least I’m recognizing the fact that there is leakage in my game and I will work to improve that.

Riverchasers 4

Going to play in Riverchases 4 tonite. Didn't know it but the hammerday game was part of the overall ranking. :)

From a Low of 414

Playing the 15k at full tilt last night I found myself with 414 chips with the blinds at 100/200 after he rivered on my leaving me crippled. So I threw in my last chips with a 5 9 suited and tripled up. And then doubled up again the next hand. Somehow I kept surviving and ended up in the money in 40th.

Basically, I was on a free roll at that point and was just thorouhly enjoying myself.

From losing my 26 I won 76 so I was ok with that.

Andy Bloch

Wow, Andy Block cracked my aces last night with his two pair on the 1/2 table.What a surprise to see him at a low $ table let alone there being 3 seats available. It would have been better to win of course but thats ok too.

Pros I Played with on line.

Chris Ferguson
Andy Bloch

Bankroll Protection

When the legislation came into place I unloaded most of my stack into neteller and my bank. It was very easy to move money between sites and accounts. However I did not leave enough at the poker sites to handle the normal swings and what I am now doing is bankroll protection. Instead of playing 3 tables simul I may play 2 or even 1, Instead of a $26, I drop down to $10 or even $5 just because its such a pain in the ass to reload. I think others are doing the same thing.But I won't quit, unless its just gets impossible. I may be a fish, I don't think so, but I will continue to plug along and improve as long as I can.

Can't Lay Them Down

Why do I have to look up someone when I’m 90% sure I’m beat. I had pocket aces with 10,10,3,3 on the board and looking at a big raise. I got to stop calling thinking that I am being beat out of the pot with a bluff. I got to get back into the mentality that it is ok to make a small mistake rather than blowing off most of your chips. I will never become the player that I hope to become by not laying down these types of hands. So what did the guy have? Well I was right in that he did not have a 10. No, he had 2 of them for quads and I’m left with 400 chips. I did battle back to 4000 chips and made it to the bubble when my AQ fell to 99 and I was out in 37th. Yes 36th paid out but I was so short stacked that everyone was waiting to bust me. Should I have been blinded in the hopes of someone else going out……maybe, but I think the object is to fight and try for the final table. And I would have been in better shape by laying the A's down.

DEM QUEEN BITCHES

At a $10 poker stars MTT I was playing at slightly above the chip average when I was dealt Q's, not once or twice but three time in a row.

QQ(1) - Raise 3x all fold and I collect antes.
QQ(2) - Raise 3x and called . K on flop and I subsequently loose to KQ. I did not play this well as I should have thrown them away when the K hit but his raises were so small against what was in the pot I was still priced in.
QQ(3) - Raise 3x and re-raised 2x and I call. Qxx hits the board for trips and we get all our chips in. He shows KK and of course a K hits the river and I am out.

As everyone knows Q's are a good hand but not a great hand and should be played cautiously. Everyone one of these played out differently. I'm OK with QQ(3) as he was down to 2 outs on the river and shit like that is gonna happen.

I'm pissed at QQ(2) as by playing that way I gave him enough chips to knock me out one hand later.

I'm still learning

Poker God Humor

Played over at Foxwood the other night and came away with about $60 to the good. It was an great night with interesting people including one guy who was trying to recover by raising every pot irregardless of what hands he had. He made back a little but he made the table laugh everytime he did it.

One very intersting hand did occur that evening.

The dealer was dealing at he flipped over and exposed an 8 to me. As it was exposed the 8 was then the burn card. I looked at the card that replaced the exposed card ant was a J and as it turned out my second card was also a J. Great for once I improved on an exposed card.

The flop was 8...8...8 which would have given me quads. But OK I still had a full house with JJ888. The turn was an A and the round was being bet heavly as no one was afraid of quads. Cr*P, boo, but I still call.

The turn was a J giving me the second nuts (AA is the nuts which no one has) and I take down a very nice pot which was mine to begin with.

Sometimes the Poker Gods have a sense of humor.

The Future of Poker On Line

I sit here and wonder if I even feel like playing poker anymore. I enjoy it but I don't know if it is worthwhile to sign up for another service or not. It looks like getting money in and out is going to get more difficult. Right now I have about $20 at FT and $300 at Pokerstars. Normally I would transfer some of that over as I enjoy Full Tilt so much more. Right now, I must take a step back and analyze what the next steps before either going on a megatilt before quiting or just take a wait and see approach.

GOOD NEWS

The good news I final tabled a turbo $10 in 7th /550 for $180 when shortstacked my KQ against A7 which did not improve.

Hot and Cold

Played like a dog last night in tournament play. Went out early with weak playing on two tournaments including WWDN. And then played bubble boy on horse. How do you bubble out where at one point you are in 8th. 40th pays and I was 41st. bahh.

Fortunately I more than made up for the losses playing horse with players that were playing cards that I couldn't believe. How does one believe a pair of aces is good in stud.

This is very common if I play both tournaments and cash. One ususally offsets the others. Don't know if that is good or bad but it is common.

Boney's Poker Axiom No. 8 - Trying to leave early

It is impossible to say "Sorry, I got to go" in the middle of the tournament without then winning six hands in a row.

Boney's Poker Axiom No. 9 - Buyins

The higher the buyin the more major interuptions or emergencies you will have during the tournament

Boney's Poker Axiom No. 10 - Suckouts

The lower your chip stack is in the red zone or dead zone the more likely you are to suckout a one outer. Your 350 chips will be doubled to 750 when the average chip count is 20000.

The corollary to this is the higher your chip stack and the closer you are to the final table someone with more chips will suck out on you with a one outer.

Good Wins On PS 45 Turbos

As everyone knows the Poker Stars 45 turbos are nothing more than a crapshoot but they are a lot of fun when you have limitied time. Placed first in a $5 and second in a $10 to up my account almost $200 on back to back tournaments.

Good poker... probably not.

But good fun

Later

Bones